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Let’s Talk Money for a Minute

You already know our goal for this year: pay off debt and save for a house/property. (Yes, I’ve already found one I love… and no, we can’t afford it yet.)

Since it’s the first week of February, before things get too crazy, I wanted to break down January’s expenses, what actually happened, and where we stand now.

Where We Started: January Financial Snapshot

Last month, I shared Our Personal Finance Snapshot: Debt, Savings & Real Numbers. Here’s where we began January:

• ~$17,000 in credit card debt
• $44,000 in vehicle loans
• $55,000+ in student loan debt

We are not touching student loans until April (BOLO for that post).

Vehicle Loans: One Win, One Pain Point

The good news?
🎉 We paid off one vehicle.

We now have $42,348.91 remaining on our truck loan. I’ve applied to refinance because the 13.97% interest rate is absolutely brutal. Fingers crossed.

Between payments and payoffs, we reduced our total debt by about $2,000 in January.

Credit Cards: The Part I Hate the Most

I hate paying interest on credit cards. Some of these rates are ridiculous. (Nice try with the cap, Trump & AOC—but credit card rates are set by banks based on multiple factors.)

Full Transparency Time

We have 9 credit cards.

If you work in finance, I can hear you yelling already.

Most of our spending rotates between three primary cards, with small charges on the others just to keep them active. I’ll share a full breakdown—including referral links—in a future post.

The Carnival Card 

Let’s talk about our Carnival credit card. We—and by we, I mostly mean me—love this card for cruise points, rebates, and the new star/point program starting September 2026.

I took three cruises last year, and yes, I’ll be posting about all of them soon. I will officially be your go-to source for Happy Llama Travel & Adventure. 🎉
(Also: I used to work for THE MOUSE—coming soon.)

The Damage

Our statement period 12/6/25–1/5/26 came in at:

💳 $14,919.45

Before you panic:

• $5,424.12 was a promotional purchase with 0% interest until April 2026
• To avoid interest, we needed to pay $9,495.33 by February 2nd
• ✅ Paid in full

Now for the real talk:
We did not earn that much money in December or January. We are very much living paycheck to paycheck. I had set aside extra funds knowing this bill was coming (and my mom reimbursed her portion), but I definitely underestimated how high it would be.

If you have credit cards and don’t fully understand interest, statements, or payment allocation, please read my next post ASAP. It matters.

Where We Stand Now: February Numbers

We’re starting February with:

• ~$9,000 in credit card debt
  
• $42,500 in vehicle loans
  
• $55,000+ in student loan debt
  

Unfortunately, nothing went to savings in January.

The Big Goal (and Reality Check)

Our goal for 2026 is to save $50,000 to qualify for a loan so we can afford 13–20 acres, a barndominium, and a small garage.

Last week’s snowmageddon combined with February being a short month will throw things off slightly—but I’m hopeful I’ve budgeted well enough to keep us moving forward.

This journey isn’t pretty, polished, or perfect—but it’s real. We’re learning, adjusting, and making progress even when things don’t go exactly as planned.

👉 Be sure to check out my next couple of posts
👉 And tell me in the comments: How’s your money journey going?

We’re all figuring this out together. 🦙💸